"BOOOOMM"
As they were slowly eating dinner and relaxing, the building suddenly caved in. A giant suit had crashed into it.
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A moment before, the restaurant was bustling. Families were together, a few friends had come to try the place, and couples were appreciating the low light and the intimate atmosphere at the back of the room.
Nobody saw it coming when the building exploded inwards. Concrete, pieces of glass, and shards of iron were flying at high speed.
'People died. They almost never show it quite like that in movies or comics,' he thought, looking around the room and seeing the blood pooling on the floor. He could make out some mashed-up bodies in a buried corner of the room. The upper floor couldn't resist the impact and collapsed.
He had managed to pull Gwen down and put himself between her and the explosion, but she still received a cut on her forehead and a cut on her thigh. It didn't seem to be bleeding profusely, so he put it in the back of his mind.
His ears were still ringing. Having heightened senses wasn't a blessing there, or at least that's what he thought.
But a second later, when he heard the hydraulic movement of the suit before even seeing it move, it saved his and Gwen's lives.
He managed to pull her away from the path of the suit walking out of the collapsed building. Looking around one more time, he tried to concentrate on finding if anyone else was alive.
The front of the restaurant seemed to have taken less damage. He could already see some of the customers running away from the scene.
But in the back of the restaurant, he could only see blood. Hearing a gasp, he turned around to see that Gwen had managed to come to her senses and open her eyes. The first thing she saw was blood.
He could feel her breathing becoming ragged, the slight trembling of her shoulders, and see the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
'She's going to have a panic attack.'
Hearing the groaning of the rest of the building, he chose to quickly get out before it collapsed on them further.
Gathering and lifting Gwen into his arms was easy. She offered no resistance and let him do it, seemingly in shock. She kept glancing around, looking more and more in shock as the blood and body parts were imprinted in her mind. He put his hand over her eyes and his shirt over her mouth and nose and said,
"Close your eyes, Gwen. You don't need to see this. Try not to breathe too much dust."
She didn't respond, not that he expected her to. Paying attention to where he stepped, he slowly made his way out of the building. While walking, he tried his hardest to locate some survivors but couldn't hear a single heart still beating that wasn't his or Gwen's.
As he got out, he could hear the sirens of the approaching police cars and ambulances, making their way to the disaster scene. He could also see the giant grey suit running away. Just as he was about to avert his eyes from the grey monstrosity, he managed to catch a glimpse of Spider-Man swinging after it.
He sat down on the sidewalk, waiting for the ambulance. Gwen was still shaking in his arms, and he tried to reassure her by muttering in a soothing voice.
"We got out, Gwen. You're alright. You're safe."
She started shaking more and more, and slowly he could hear her sobbing. She clutched his shirt and buried her head in his chest, looking for some comfort.
"All these people, Arthur. They're all dead, Arthur. There was so much blood. There was blood everywhere."
She rambled more and more, and he let her do it, hoping it might alleviate some of the tension. He just squeezed her harder against his chest, also trying to find comfort in the hug.
Arthur may have known of the atrocities of the MCU. He may have had knowledge of what would happen and who would die and live, but at the end of the day, he was a teenager, no matter how awesome of a teenager he was.
The movies never show this side of the various alien or terrorist attacks. They show the build-up to the attack, the fight itself, and in some cases, they show a little of the aftermath. They show what the building looks like when it explodes, but they never show the people inside the building when it comes down. They never show the people surviving, having the image of their colleagues, friends, or family's bodies being crushed, marking their minds for years to come, or the blood flowing out of the building, pooling at the bottom of it.
No, movies don't show that. It's not grandiose enough. It wouldn't please the spectators. And maybe it wouldn't, but as he looked back at the ruined building, Arthur, for the first time, couldn't help but resent God for pulling him out of his non-superhero world.
'Still, maybe I could help. I have the power.'
But the paramedic who had just gotten to the scene didn't wait for his internal resolution to take hold before trying to take Gwen from his arms to treat her injuries.
Gwen refused to let him go, clutching to his frame until the paramedics let it go and managed to steer him, and Gwen, whom he carried, towards one of the ambulances.
With his cooperation, they managed to look Gwen over for any other injuries besides the cut on her forehead and another smaller cut on her thigh.
They also looked at him, but aside from some bruises and inhaling smoke and dust, he was surprisingly, for them, not hurt.
Some cops asked for a quick testimony, which he gave before letting them go home.
During all this, Gwen refused to let go of him. She was still trembling as he carried her towards his apartment.
With his superhuman body, carrying a teenage girl was not a big strain.
Once inside his apartment, he quickly shooed Bast off the couch and laid Gwen down on it.
Bast, recognising the grave mood, thankfully didn't make a fuss. He managed to coax Gwen into giving him the code needed to unlock her phone.
Quickly finding her father's name in the last calls list, he hit dial and waited for an answer. After the third ring, her father picked up.
"Hello, Gwen. Is it urgent? Because a crazy guy just attacked the city, and I am needed everywhere."
He responded in as clear a voice as he could.
"Captain Stacy?"
"Who are you? Where did you find this phone?"
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